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Introducing Your Child to Meditation: Long Deep Breathing
It’s not always easy to inspire a child to sit and meditate for any meaningful length of time, but it is a skill that will serve them for life. A simple place to begin is Long Deep Breathing. Children as young as three can learn to take a deep breath when they are upset or hurt, and older children can begin to gain a sense of self-mastery with a practice of just three minutes a day. The top five benefits of long deep breathing are:
- Relaxation and calming of the mind and body.
- Enhanced awareness through increased oxygen in the blood.
- Reduction or elimination of pain.
- Stimulation of endorphin production to prevent depression.
- Aid in speeding up both mental and physical healing.
Long deep breathing is also called abdominal breathing. Begin by inhaling while relaxing the abdomen and even pushing it out. This draws the diaphragm down and creates a vacuum in the lungs. The lowest portion of the lungs fills first. On the exhale the abdomen should shrink back and cause all of the air to be expelled. Practice as long and as often as possible!
From: Survival Kit, Meditations and Exercises for Stress and Pressure of the Times by Yogi Bhajan
It’s 40 Day Seva Time Again
Akaljeet Kaur, 12th Grade
Students at the Golden Temple
Before coming to Miri Piri Academy I heard that we had to go to some temple at two o’clock in the morning to wash it. Why would people want to do that? The first time I went to seva I understood why. There is nothing more beautiful than serving. To surrender yourself to God without expecting anything back, you serve. And that is the beauty of it, without expecting, everything comes, because when you give, God gives to you.
That’s the experience I have when I go every morning to the Golden Temple. When I enter the temple I have the feeling of being home, when I see the sangat I see my family, and when I serve, I see myself. God gives me everything, and I feel it, every time I sit to wash dishes, when I take peoples shoes, when I sweep the parkarma. I know HE is there with me. The feeling of complete surrender, no ego, just me and Him.
It may shock some to know that waking up at 2:30AM every morning is something that I look forward to. It keeps me invigorated and excited to think that I will be at the Golden Temple every morning, in the presence of sangat, listening to divine banis. There is no other experience compared to going to the Golden Temple for forty days straight, to serve, be with the sangat, meditate on the parkarma and have some delicious Indian chai.
This is my last year at MPA and nothing breaks my heart more than the thought that I really don’t know when I will be blessed with the opportunity to serve at the Golden temple again.
News and Notes
- You’re invited to the Miri Piri Academy Graduation Ceremony for 2010! See details here.
- Forty-days of Parkarma Seva at the Golden Temple is nearly over, with more participation and enthusiasm than ever before.
- Students are studying long hours and have started their final exams . Those students who are not sitting for the IGCSE or A Level exams will be heading home May 8th.
- Enrollment for the 2010-2011 school year is now open. Please start your application today! Financial Aid applications for new students are also being accepted. If you have any questions please contact Pooja Vohra at [email protected].
- We invite you to subscribe to the newsfeed of our official MPA Blog so you can stay in touch with what the children are doing! You are also invited to contribute your own thoughts, videos and pictures of the school for the blog.
Highlights from the Blog
Congratulations to our 12th grade class. Students in this year’s graduating class have thus far been accepted into the following schools:
College of Santa Fe
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Connecticut College, CT
Wheaton College, MA […]
The Miri Piri Academy “Sustainable Living” project was featured today on the front page of the Cambridge International Examinations website and on their facebook page. Follow the links below to see our students work highlighted:
http://www.cie.org.uk/news/features/detail?feature_id=31648
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=166436&id=168221023425
The “Quick, Draw, Write” technique of Formative Assessment was used by Gagandeep Kaur in the English Writing class with the juniors.
